A version reinterpreting Toriyama Sekien’s fusion of a stone lantern and will-o’-the-wisp, casting it as a fire spirit dwelling in the lantern. When old courtyard or temple lanterns go long unused, a thin flame is said to rise at night, flickering as if lingering over the places it once lit. Historically, Sekien’s illustration and note form the core record, with little tied to specific locales or figures. It influenced later ghostly retellings, but firsthand accounts are scarce, so it is treated as a symbolic yokai of “the memory of light.”
Character Profile
This section is our own creative profile for storytelling. It is not historical fact or scholarship.
Personality - taciturn, relentless
Compatibility - attuned to silence, harmonizes with aged implements
Abilities - kindles faint ghost-fire to dimly illuminate its surroundings, drifts leeward while leaving a persistent afterglow, sustains a pale flame even on damp nights
Weaknesses - dispersed by strong wind and rain, rarely appears where fresh lights are frequently lit, dislikes human clamor
Habitat - gardens of old manor houses, around stone lanterns at temples and shrines, lanterns at old battlefields
🔮Yokai Compatibility Test
For more detailed information and diagnosis results about Sekien’s Koro-bi (Ancient Lantern-Fire), please click here.